How About We Let the Rockies & Giants Play Out the String?

When the Rockies and Giants take the field at AT&T Park today, it will be the seventh time in less than 10 days the two wild card front runners have locked horns. Each one a close game with three runs the greatest margin for victory. The seven game mini-series featured two separate Tiny Tim v. You-bald-O pitching match ups straight from the inside of my dream-addled skull. After taking 3 of 4 in Colorado, placing the Wild Card in an early depth grip, the Giants won the first two of the return series back in SF.

Not only would a Giants win today give the light-hitting G-men a 4-3 edge in this recent set of tilts, the Giants will pull right up alongside the Rockies in the footrace for the Wild Card lead. With only three tete-a-tete games remaining, both teams need every opportunity to gain the upper hand if they can.

Games and series like this speak to something discussed over my way recently, expanding the playoffs further. I'm against it, as series like these Giants/Rockies games are very much "the playoffs." The Giants took 2 of 3 from the Diamondbacks mid-week to stay within shouting distance of the Boulders, increasing the leverage of this weekends battle simultaneously. Every game between now and the middle of September when the meet again serves the very same purpose. It's great, and what Bud had in mind when he gifted us the Wild Card in exchange for his mortal soul.

On top of the playoff implications, these games are great to watch. Two evenly matched teams playing tight baseball games in the cutesy way that is NL ball at its best. A pitching and defense rich team powered by a lovable fat man facing a deep team full of fundamentalists. It's what baseball's all about. Why not let them just go head-to-head for the rest of the month? Give the Dodgers the bye they think they've earned while letting the Padres and Snakes battle for which team survives the ultimate contraction I've got planned. Everybody wins!!

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2 Comments

Why would you contract from the NL West? This year they're possibly the best division in the NL. If you're going to contract, get rid of the NL Central.

And I know I'm taking your throwaway joke far too seriously but the Padres are far inferior to the Snakes. Arizona's -27 run differential suggests they've been decidedly unlucky and should be closer to 5 games below .500 and not the 14 they currently sit at.